Approximately 500 species: widely distributed in tropical to warm temperate regions, especially of North and South America; 29 species in China.

The following are cultivated in China and may escape from gardens in the south: Ipomoea quamoclit Linnaeus (= Quamoclit pennata (Desrousseaux) Bojer), I. hederifolia Linnaeus (widely misidentified as Quamoclit coccinea (Linnaeus) Moench or I. coccinea Linnaeus), I. Sloteri (House) van Ooststroom ( = Quamoclit sloteri House), and I. tricolor Cavanilles. These have been included in the key to species and given no further treatment. Ipomoea fulvicoma Hance was originally described from Hong Kong, but no material of the species was available for study. Ipomoea lancunosa Linnaeus was reported from Zhejiang by Chiu et al. (Acta Bot. Yunnan. 16: 231-234. 1994), but its occurrence has not been verified by us, and the species has not been included here.

The generic concept for Ipomoea in this flora differs from that followed in the Fl. Reipubl. Popularis Sin. in that Pharbitis, Calonyction, Quamoclit, and Mina are recognized as infrageneric taxa, following D. F. Austin (Taxon 28: 359-361. 1979; emended, 29: 501-502. 1980) and most other twentieth century floras. In any case, cultivated species including those referable to Quamoclit and Mina that were treated in the Fl. Reipubl. Popularis Sin. account are mostly omitted in the Flora of China.